Mirrors
by WhiteIce
Summary: When Claudia runs off after finding out Artie's been spying on her in "Trials", she doesn't come back - mainly because someone, with a grudge against Artie, has taken her.
1. Prologue

_I don't own Warehouse 13. And thank you to the person that prompted this fic, Mari. To anyone else that prompted fic ideas, thank you. I might write more fic prompts soon, but I want to finish this one first. _

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><p>Tears sprang up in Claudia's eyes as she ran away from Artie. So much for trusting her – there probably hadn't even been any "Regent funeral", he was just trying to make up an excuse to spy on her. Maybe he even told Jinks what was going on. Everyone was in the know – except Claudia.<p>

She bit down on her lip, angrily brushing the tears out of her eyes before they could spill. She slowed her running to a fast walk, taking deep breaths of the cool air. She'd walk a few more blocks, get her anger out, and then go back to the car to solve the case. She'd show Artie, and Jinks, and the Regents. She'd solve the case so fast they -

An arm shot out from the alley that Claudia had been walking past, pulling her into it. Claudia tried to let out a scream but a hand clamped down on her mouth. Panic and terror fueled her to bite the hand and try to pull away from the person that had grabbed her.

"My wallet and car keys are in my left coat pocket." Claudia said in a low voice. She didn't mention that when the man moved to grab her wallet, she would slam a knee into his stomach.

"I don't want money." The man said, trying to tug her in the direction of a white van, parked a little ways into the alley. At seeing this, Claudia felt her heart drop to her stomach and a sudden flood of adrenaline made her try to lunge away. She nearly made it but the man had a death grip on her.

"Let me go!" Claudia yelped, frantically trying to wriggle out of the man's grip. "I'm not coming with you! Artie!" She screamed in desperation. She looked around, but with a sinking heart realized that she had run too far for him to realize she was in trouble and help her.

"Shut up." Claudia felt something poking into her side and looked down to see the barrel of a gun. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands up to her shoulders.

"Okay. You got me." She just needed to stay calm until she found a way to get out of this. Or until Artie showed up and Tesla'd this guy's ass. Whichever came first.

She walked to the van when the man grabbed something out of her right coat pocket – her Farnsworth.

"It's just a prop. From a movie. Sci-fi." Claudia lied as best she could through a dry mouth.

"I know exactly what this is." The man said, opening it up. He ripped out all the wires on the left side of it and threw it to ground, smashing the screen.

Claudia felt fear coarse through her – this man knew about the Warehouse, and this man knew that the Farnsworth was the only way for them to truly find her. Cell phones could be tricked, but Farnsworths were the best tracking device an agent had.

The man shoved her into the van, locking the doors behind him. He went around to the front and got in. The only indicators that the fight between himself and Claudia had ever occurred – or that they had ever been there at all – was the smashed Farnsworth on the ground.


	2. Chapter 1: First Impressions

_I don't own Warehouse 13. This fanfic came from an idea prompted by Mari. This takes place during "Trials", so spoilers for up to and including that episode._

**girltechcoyote- **I think we need more Artie and Claudia stories too! Fanfic writers, unite to write more Artie and Claudia fanfics!

**Mari** - Well, I really liked your prompt. Here's hoping that you like what I do with it.

**Lady Anne Boleyn** - There will never be a time when I don't love your username. I love the Boleyn history. Also, thanks for the review.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: First Impressions<strong>

Artie was not having a good day – he had been to a Regent funeral, had his knee hurt by that stupid altercation with the butcher knife and had made Claudia think that he didn't trust her whatsoever.

He knew he shouldn't have gotten out of the car to grab the butcher knife, but years of artifact retrieval had trained him otherwise. Besides, who knew what that man was planning to do with the knife? Of course, none of that mattered because he had gotten away.

Jinks and Artie were looking for him, but couldn't find anything.

And they couldn't find Claudia, either.

Running off was something that Claudia would do – she had to remove herself from a situation sometimes. Staying away from other people was also something she would do, to try and figure out her emotions. But staying away for two hours? Something wasn't right.

Jinks had been walking the streets, trying to see if she was simply cooling off in a coffee shop or restaurant somewhere, but so far he had turned up nothing. Artie grabbed the laptop that Claudia had left in the car, bringing up the tracking device for the Farnsworth with just a few taps of the keyboard.

"Oh no." He whispered. He got out of the car, running as best he could on his lame knee. Just a few feet away Jinks was walking towards him, obviously unsuccessful at finding Claudia.

"What?" He asked, seeing Artie hobble past him, muttering curses under his breath at the man that had wounded him. Artie was looking in every street and alley, but not for Claudia.

"Claudia's Farnsworth. It's not transmitting."

"Maybe she shut it off?"

"No, even shut off those things give off a homing device."

"Did she shut off the homing device purposely - "

"No. She knows better than to do something like that." But still, Artie was hoping that this was what had happened, that this was just a fit of rage from a hostile Claudia.

His hopes were destroyed when he saw the smashed Farnsworth at the end of an alley. The beautiful black and gold Farnsworth that he had polished and cleaned for hours before giving it as a gift to Claudia lay smashed into pieces in the alley, wires lying limply around it.

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><p>Claudia didn't remember much of what had happened in the van – she had gotten in, and in typical fashion, had tried to drive her kidnapper mad with questions. Finally, he had threatened to break off every single one of her fingers to make sure she couldn't escape. That had shut her up real fast.<p>

There was a layer of chained wire, like a cage, between the back of the van and the front, preventing her from fighting back. The only things in the back of the van had been a bottle of water and a sandwich. Claudia had tried to keep from eating and drinking as long as possible, but eventually she had to have a sip of the water.

After that she couldn't remember anything.

It was like she had suspected before her lips had even touched the water – it had been drugged.

She woke up in a small room that didn't exactly look like a facility where a kidnapper would take his hostage, especially one prepared to take on the Warehouse. It was a room with light yellow walls, and wood furniture painted white to match gossamer white curtains blowing in the breeze. Quickly Claudia hurried to the window, which was open – but had bars separating her from the outside world. Looking outside, she could see nothing but land. Maybe she was on farm somewhere, she mused. That would explain the kidnapper's confidence in leaving the window opened – he obviously didn't think she could yell for help.

She crossed to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She hadn't really had any hope that it would be unlocked. Instantly she began to comb through her hair, locking for a bobby pin. Ever since Artie had left her handcuffed to the oven back on their first official mission outside the Warehouse together, she had remembered to bring something to help her pick locks. But her hair had been swept clean of any traces of bobby pins.

Claudia bit her lip, trying to figure out what her abductor's end game was. He had kidnapped her at gunpoint, destroyed her Farnsworth and had been smart enough to remove anything that could have helped her escape this room. But…

She was in a bright, beautiful room. She wasn't bound or handcuffed or gagged; she wasn't being tortured; aside from the fact that she was extremely hungry and thirsty, she wasn't feeling too bad.

She decided to investigate the rest of the room, to see what else it could tell her. The small closet held nothing, nor did the drawers of a desk that had been placed against a wall. She found another unlocked door leading to a bathroom, which held a shower and a toilet. Everything, from the lamp by her nightstand to the chair of the desk, had been bolted down.

She sighed and slumped down to the side of the bed, resting her body on the wooden floor. She turned her head, liking the rich smell of it. Suddenly her eyes registered something in the dim lighting under the bed. She slowly began to reach out, but began to hear footsteps. She scrambled back onto the bed, not sure whether she should try and look deadly or deceptively harmless. Her decision was cut short when the door opened up, so she just looked confused. Which was a pretty accurate description of how she felt.

She hadn't been able to get a good look at her abductor when he had first grabbed her – she had been too panicked and preoccupied with getting away. But now that he was standing in front of her, bathed in the sunlight, Claudia was slightly surprised by what she saw.

The man in front of her was stick thin, with pale red hair coming down to his chin, resembling almost a lion's mane. The stubble on his beard didn't help wave away the image, either. His eyes had a sharpness only intellect could show – Claudia knew just in that moment that nothing got past this man. However, there was something else in them, something she couldn't identify. She wasn't sure if that look wasn't dangerous. Which meant that she couldn't tell if he was dangerous.

Of course, the fact that he was carrying a gun kind of negated all her analyzing.

"Here," the man said. In his right hand he was carrying a gun, but in his left he was carrying a bottle of water and a paper bag. He put the objects in his left hand on the ground and nudged them forward with his foot. "Well," he motioned with his gun, "go get them."

Claudia slowly moved off the bed, her eyes trained on the man at all times as she leaned for the items. She grabbed them and went back to the bed. She opened the paper bag to see a hamburger and French fries. She looked up to ask him something – anything to get him to reveal information about why she was here, but the man had already disappeared. She could hear the click as the door locked behind her.

Claudia eat her meal and was surprised but pleased to find that it didn't hold any drug to knock her out. After she was finished, she got down on her hands and knees and reached under the bed for the object that had first caught her eye. She pulled it out, covered in dust, and her eyes widened.

It was a child's teddy bear.


	3. Chapter 2: More Questions Than Answers

I don't own Warehouse 13, and the idea for this fic came from Mari.

**Mari -** I hope you like this next chapter!

**The Sheep of Destiny -** The ending being mysterious and creepy was what I was going for! Here's more creepy and mysterious bits.

**Lady Anne Boleyn -** Yep, I'm a fan of the Boleyn's. I'm a fan of all of King Henry the VIII's lives. I'm glad you think my writing is so descriptive, as that's one of the things I'm working on. And yeah, poor Claudia was drugged - she held out as long as she could, but she needed water.

**girltechcoytoe -** Artie...does not react well to have Claudia taken from him. Which is saying it nicely. I hope I portray him well in this chapter, but he's a harder person to write for than Claudia. This would be so much easier to write if it actually happened on the show! Show, why wouldn't you give us an episode of Claudia in danger and Artie being all badass looking for her?

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: More Questions Than Answers<strong>

Claudia sat there holding the teddy bear for a long time, clutching it to her chest. The sun's rays slowly softened and gave way to the shadows of dusk before she moved.

What did this say about her captor? Did he do this often, kidnap kids?

_But I'm not a kid_, her mind objected.

_You're 20, that's close enough_, she snapped back, forgetting her pride in the panic of finding the forgotten toy.

At that moment Claudia wanted Artie. It struck her just how much she wanted him there to tell her want to do, to boss her around. She wanted him to roll his eyes and tell her that of course there was a simple way to get out of this, she just didn't see it yet.

And where was Artie? She mentally calculated the amount of time that she had been gone: she had been in the van for at least 8 hours to work up a dire need for water, and she could tell from out the front windows that night had fallen then. She had woken up when the light was bright in her window – so around early afternoon. And now dusk was falling.

Over 24 hours. She had been gone over 24 hours and Artie hadn't found her yet. Claudia felt a sickening feeling make her way through her stomach and she had to try and keep her previous meal down. She sat there in the darkness, holding on to the bear and wondering where the hell Artie was.

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><p>"Artie, you need to sleep." Myka's gentle voice rang out through the empty office. Leena was back at the B&amp;B making dinner for everyone, while Pete and Steve were in the Warehouse aisles, trying to find one artifact that would allow the user to locate someone without their skin being flayed or maggots coming out of their mouth. So far they weren't succeeding.<p>

Everyone had been tense since Claudia's abduction, but they had at least eaten something and slept slightly. Artie, on the other hand, had done nothing to help himself. He was in the office at all times, trying to find anything that would lead to Claudia's location.

"I'm fine." He snapped in a tone that would have made any normal human being get out of range. But Myka dug her heels in. She had dealt with stubborn males in the past and she wasn't afraid of Artie's irritable attitude.

"Artie, you are NOT fine. You need at least a nap and – and something to eat." Myka knew that Artie was upset because he hadn't found anything yet – nothing that identified Claudia's captor. Her Farnsworth was broken beyond repair and she had left her cell phone in the car when she had run away from Artie.

"I am fine." Artie said. "And unless you have something to help me find Claudia, go away!"

"Artie –"

"No!" Artie slammed his hands down on the desk he was leaning on. "Claudia is out there, at the mercy of someone who knows about the Warehouse! Nobody attacks the Warehouse unless they're prepared to be utterly ruthless. They took Claudia because she's not a federal agent – she hasn't been taught how to deal with torture. Claudia is out there being tortured for information about the Warehouse, wondering where we are, where I am, hoping that I'm going to find her soon! And you are standing here talking to me about getting sleep and food!" Artie stalked up to Myka, making her nervously back up. "Now get out and don't come back until you have something helpful!"

Myka fled.

Artie stoically turned back to his desk and began to work again.

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><p>Claudia had fallen asleep on the floor, she was sure of it, but when she woke up she was in bed. She opened her eyes, realizing that her arms were still curled around the teddy bear. She sat up, and looked around, giving a surprised smile when she saw breakfast was on the desk.<p>

She eat everything, wondering how she could be so hungry until she remembered that she had missed dinner. After that she ventured into the bathroom. She debated taking a shower, but after noticing that the door locked (although that wouldn't be much of a hindrance if someone was coming after her, it still comforted her), she still decided to take one. The cool water felt good on her skin after everything that had happened, and when she stepped out she felt much more refreshed. She changed back into her clothes, which felt greasy and dirty by comparison. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was surprised to find a bundle of clothing by the door. A sundress and sandals. Why would her captor leave them there? She looked at the tags – they were exactly her size, something she knew wasn't a coincidence.

She debated simply not changing into them, but her clothes were feeling heavy with dirt, and who knew how long she would be stuck with them. When she came out of the bathroom a second time in her new clothes, she felt completely refreshed.

She sat on the bed, bored out of her mind, but not quite sure what she should do. She had already explored the room, and had found it incapable of escape. She still laid on the bed for a few hours, running through any possible option of escape in her mind and rejecting all of the ideas. Then she thought about what her friends might be doing back at the Warehouse. She entertained herself with this until the man came through the door again, carrying another bag of food and a water bottle.

He nodded to her. "Hello."

"Yo."

The man placed the bag of food down and nudged it towards her again. He was about to leave when Claudia spoke up.

"Um…this is going to be awkward since you're the big sinister bad guy and I'm the frightened captive…but you could find something for me to do around here?"

"Do?"

"Yeah dude, I'm mad bored." She was secretly frightened he would threaten to hurt her again, like he had in the car, but she tried to keep a brave face on.

The man nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

Then he was gone and Claudia was left alone with her thoughts.

Her captor returned with dinner and a bookbag. He dropped them both on the ground. Claudia carefully picked up both, looking inside the bookbag first. Inside were at least 10 books from different genres: sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, etc. Claudia's heart lurched when she saw one of the books was "The Time Traveler" by H.G. Wells. She really wished Wells was here with her right now.

"I hope those are okay." The man said.

"Um…yeah." Claudia was so stunned by this that she looked up, finally gathering enough courage to speak her mind. "Why are you doing this?

"What?" The man looked surprised, either at her bravery or her question.

"The kidnapping, taking me hostage, keeping me here…" She spread her arms out to indicate the room. "You know about the Warehouse, so you obviously want something to do with that. But you haven't asked me a single question about it. Are you waiting for the Stockholm Syndrome to kick in? 'Cause you're going to be waiting a looooong time."

The man stared at her for a minute before finally speaking. "I'm not here to hurt the Warehouse."

"Right, you proved that by kidnapping me." She said, sarcasm evident in every word.

"You're not my main concern. I didn't kidnap you for your connections to the Warehouse, but for Arthur Neilson.

Claudia straightened up, her voice rising with panic. "Whatever you want, I won't do it. I don't care what you do to me - I'll never do anything to hurt Artie."

"That's not what I want. I don't want to see him in pain." Although the man's voice made it sound like he wasn't ruling the idea out. "But he has something that I want. And now, I have something that he wants."


	4. Chapter 4: A Change in the Plan

**Chapter 3: A Change in the Plan**

_Note: I don't own Warehouse 13, and this fic idea came from Mari. _

_M__ari - I'm glad you think I write Artie well. He's harder to write for than the others, but I wanted to make sure he was in-character._

_Lady Anne Boleyn - You'll learn a lot more about the kidnapper in upcoming chapters as well. _

_KJay99 - Hope you like this new chapter!_

_zombienath - Here is a new chapter! I'm glad you're liking the story!_

_SageQ - In this chapter, you will find out exactly what Artie has that the kidnapper wants. _

_DarkestAngel11 - You will find out the story behind the teddy bear soon. I hope you like this chapter!_

_Rosa Clearwater - Artie will try to rescue Claudia, don't worry about that. But Claudia's going to try and rescue herself as well. Can't promise she'll succeed though..._

_1Shadow-kun - Here's a new update! I hope you enjoy!_

_mondler1998 - Ah, Chandler/Monica, one of my favorite ships. I liked your review - I think that's the most time I've ever gotten the word "please" in a single review. Thanks. :) _

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><p>Dolan shut the door in the redhead, making sure only to shake his head once the door was firmly bolted shut. It was the fifth day in her imprisonment, and she was still as strong as ever.<p>

Honestly, he didn't understand her. She had been kidnapped, taken hostage, and told she was going to be used as a bargaining chip, and she had barely batted an eye. Okay, maybe that was an over exaggeration. She had been scared, and he knew that she was worried about what was going to happen to herself and…Arthur. He was beyond surprised that a woman this brave and defiant would attach herself to Arthur Nielson.

Well, he knew that it was beyond him to understand what girls saw in their fathers.

Dolton went downstairs and got a beer out of his fridge. Normally he didn't drink – in his line of work he constantly needed a clear mind. Without his mind, everything would be ruined. His defenses would be down, his schemes would be ruined and his plans would go up in flames.

But still, he felt a beer was deserved tonight. He had gotten all the way to this point, and he still had a lot to do. And for this next step he felt he deserved some liquid courage.

He pulled out the cell phone that he had grabbed from the girl's pocket when first abducting her. He flipped through it until he came to the one number that would change his future. He took a deep breath, dialed the number and listened with a racing heart as the phone rang.

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><p>Artie rubbed his sleepy eyes, finally considering the possibility of some sleep. He had lost count of how many days he had been up for, and he knew his brain was shutting out. Down, he mentally corrected himself, his brain was shutting dow…<p>

The next thing he knew, his head was jolting up from where he had fallen asleep on his desk. What the –

He looked down to the where a cell phone was ringing amidst the numerous papers, books, pens and computer equipment on the desk. He rooted through the supplies, finally pulling out the phone. His heart rose when he saw Claudia's number on the cell's screen. He answered the phone with fumbling fingers, hopeful that within a few hours Claudia might be back in the Warehouse, safe and sound.

"Claudia?" He said, hoping beyond all hope that sarcastic voice of his apprentice would come through the speakers.

"She's fine." Artie felt his heart sink as he heard the unfamiliar male voice. He knew it was a possibility that Claudia's captor had her phone, but he hadn't wanted to acknowledge it.

"Listen, whatever you want, I can get for you. Money, however much you want, any amount."

"Like I said, she's fine. Nice to know you that you wanted to know about how she was before you jumped right into how much you would have to spend to get her back." The sarcastic voice made Artie scowl. This man had kidnapped Claudia from him, taken her hostage, and was now undoubtedly calling to ask for a ransom, and he had the nerve to be angry at Artie?

"What. Do. You. Want." Artie said, trying to keep his patience. The sooner he found out what this lunatic wanted, the sooner Claudia would be back with him.

"I want the Shards." The man whispered. At these words, Artie felt his heart stop.

"Dolan." He whispered. The man whose life he had ruined, the man who he had taken everything away from.

The man who had his little girl in his grasp right now.

For a second Artie allowed thousands of torturous possibilities to run through his mind. Claudia was so breakable… Her skin was so soft, knives could easily pierce it; her bones were so fragile, they could break between hands; her heart was so defenseless, a bullet could tear into it. Her mischievous, brilliant mind could be twisted with a thousand different weapons: mind tricks, psychological maneuvers, deceit…

Claudia was in the hands of a monster.

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><p>Claudia Donovan was bored. And cranky. And more than a little worried.<p>

She was bored because she had been stuck in the same room for days – she had only books to read, and it was hard to concentrate on books when you had imminent questions in your mind.

Such as how the hell she was going to get out of the room that she had been imprisoned in. She was cranky because no matter how many times she went over the room, no matter how specific she was in looking at the details, she couldn't think of a single way to get out of the room.

Attacking her kidnapper was out – she was much smaller than him. And although he hadn't been particularly threatening to her, she didn't think he would object to using force against her if she tried to fight her way out of the room. She also didn't want to make him try and test out the gun he always carried with him.

Claudia sighed and laid back in her bed. Unless she miraculously came up with a plan to get out of her prison, it looked like she would have to wait until Artie showed up to help her. She found it sickeningly ironic that she had run away from him, thinking that he had been too controlling, and now she was lying around a room, waiting for him to come to her rescue.

And that was what was worrying her.

Artie would come to save her, she knew. She also knew that her captor probably had something horrible lined up for Artie. She didn't buy the story that her captor didn't want to harm Artie, that all he wanted was something Artie had. He had went to all the effort to kidnap Claudia, and hold her hostage – she honestly didn't believe he was going to let her and Artie skip happily away.

Like hell she going to be used to lure Artie into a trap.

She would have to come up with a plan to get herself free and get to Artie before he came to save her. Her captor had the advantage of having a plan, Artie would have to walk into the situation not knowing what to expect.

Claudia sat up on her bed, sighed, and for the fiftieth time, began to look over the room, trying to find anything that might help her escape. She looked around her bed, the desk and finally poked her head into the bathroom. Nothing but a shower, sink, toilet and a small mirror above the sink. She had thought about using the mirror as a weapon, but it was so small that even if she broke the glass, all she would get would be small shards. Not much of a weapon against a man with a gun.

Suddenly an idea occurred to Claudia. Maybe she had been going about the problem wrong. She had thought she needed to fight her captor. Maybe she needed to let him help her escape.

Dolan hung up the phone, sighing in relief. In just a few hours, he would have the Shards. Everything he had been working for over the years was about to come true. He shook his head and took a final swig of his beer. Because all his hard work was about to pay off, all hell was going to break over.

Dolan looked up to the ceiling, wondering how he was going to be able to keep the girl away once hell broke open. He needed Arthur to see that Donovan was fine – he was positive that Arthur would never hand over the Shards if he thought the girl had been harmed.

However, he still didn't want the girl anywhere near him when he was about to activate the Shards. In a situation like the one he was about to jump into, he needed to have as few people around as possible. And that included Arthur.

The easiest solution was to hide the girl somewhere so Arthur would go find her, and be would be out of the way. But he couldn't hide the girl away because he needed Arthur to see that she was alright…

Dolan ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He was about to crack open another beer and start thinking of solutions when he heard a scream. Dolan grabbed his gun and ran upstairs. He nearly burst into the room, but forced himself to calm down and make sure his gun was visible when he walked into the room. The girl was smart – the scream could be a trap.

He walked into the room, and stopped: there was nobody there. He was about to panic when he suddenly heard a sniffle from the bathroom. Holding up his gun, Dolan walked into the bathroom.

Donovan was lying on the floor, holding her arm. Drops of blood were running down her arm: big drops that let smearing red tracks on her skin. Beside her were sharp pieces of the bathroom mirror. On the wall was the frame of the now broken mirror. The gir - Claudia, looked up into Dolan's eyes, her big brown ones filled with tears.

"I tripped." She said in soft voice. "I fell into the mirror." Then her eyes closed and she fell into unconsciousness.

"Okay." Dolan muttered to himself, trying to figure out what to do. He couldn't let her leave the room, nor could he let her bled to death. And if he managed to stop the bleeding to the point where she would be fine, he would have to make sure that the cut didn't get infected. He grabbed a towel and walked over to her. He put his gun down, a little ways away from her, and pressed the towel to Claudia's shoulder.

He ran downstairs and grabbed bandages, running back upstairs to Claudia. He burst through the bedroom door and into the bathroom, only to find nothing on the floor but blood stains.

The girl had tricked him. She was gone.


End file.
